Sorry folks, this chapter was getting a bit two long to make it into one, so this will only have Janice's and Claire's POV, the other part will be up soon!
Ch. 20 What happens in Hogsmeade, stays in Hogsmeade
POV JANICE DIGGORY:
One of the best things about the aftermath of the second task was that everybody was very keen to hear details of what had happened down in the lake, which meant that Ron was getting to share Harry's limelight for once.
I noticed that Ron's version of events changed subtly with every retelling. At first, he gave what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with Hermione's story, anyway - Dumbledore had put all the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor McGonagall's office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe, and would awake when they were back above the water.
One week later, however, Ron was telling a thrilling tale of kidnap in which he struggled single-handedly against fifty heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission before tying him up.
I was glad some of the credit went back to Neville. I'd promised him I'd get him something from the sweet shop in our next Hogsmeade visit, and Harry had said his thanks as well. I think it was good for Neville to feel important.
"But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve," Ron had assured Padma Patil, who seemed to be a lot keener on Ron now that he was getting so much attention and was making a point of talking to him every time they passed in the corridors. "I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."
"What were you going to do, snore at them?" said Hermione waspishly.
People had been teasing her so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood. I'd already told her it was nothing to be ashamed of, and Lexie had tried to reason with her that they were just jealous, but Hermione remained touchy, especially around Ron.
Ron's ears went red after she'd told him off, and thereafter, he reverted to the bewitched sleep version of events.
As we entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned our hands and faces every time we went out onto the grounds. Harry had received another letter from Sirius, and this letter was almost as short as the previous one.
Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.
"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.
"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught…"
"He won't get caught," I said. "He wouldn't do something like this if he wasn't sure he'd be safe..."
"Janice, we're talking about Sirius here, remember?" said Claire sceptically. "Well, at least the place isn't swarming with Dementors anymore."
"I do really want to see him again," Harry admitted. "You'll all be coming with me, right?"
"Sure," said Ron and Hermione, this being the first thing they'd agreed on in what seemed like forever.
"Sorry," I said, "promised Neville I'd go with him. He owes me one."
"I'll be on a date with Cedric," Claire told us.
"Léon asked me if I could show him the village, actually..." said Lexie, "sorry, Potter. Though I don't think Sirius will miss me, I didn't get the feeling he liked me very much."
"Are all of you seriously going on dates?" said Harry. "Bella?"
I wanted to say I wasn't going on a date with Neville, not because I would be ashamed of people thinking we were dating, but just because it wasn't true. Then I saw Bella's face, and her flushed cheeks and down-ward cast eyes got me curious.
"I think that's her business, hers alone," said Lexie suddenly, making Bella look up at her suspiciously. "It's not like you're her boyfriend, are you, Potter?"
Bella's expression suddenly evolved into gratefulness. I understood that Lexie was covering up for her somehow, but that was all I could get from that.
"What's wrong with you?" snarled Harry. "Bella doesn't keep secrets from me!"
She stepped closer, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger, fluttering her eyelashes so seductively that it almost became a joke. Her fingers, long and graceful with silver nailpolish and rings, stroked his red-and-gold tie. The blood rose to Harry's cheeks immediately, and this time I got that it was a distraction, she kept distracting him this way and she kept doing it because it worked.
"Jealous, darling?" she asked him, grinning cheekily.
"No!" he said, getting even more flustered, his eyes flicking to Bella.
"Good," she said cheerfully, letting go of his tie and taking a few steps back. "Let's get to Potions, Snape will kill you if you're late."
We therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon - double Potions - feeling considerably more cheerful than we usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something I couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as we approached.
"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart.
I saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands - Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.
"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled.
At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned us all inside. I took the seat next to Hermione, and Ron took the seat next to me, and we saw she'd already found the article Pansy had been hinting at. A colour photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled:
Harry Potter's Secret Heartache
A boy like no other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.
Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."
However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.
"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."
Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate.
"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of- of scarlet woman!"
Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter.
"Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.
"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.
"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."
She waved and smiled sarcastically at Pansy, who seemed to be disappointed Hermione wasn't angry in the least.
"Did Krum really ask you to stay with him?" I whispered excitedly.
She nodded.
"There's something funny, though," she said. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"
"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"
"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped. "No, it's just… how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"
Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Ron's eyes.
"Did he really?" I cooed. "Oh Mione!"
"What?" said Ron.
"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to -"
"What did you say?" I asked.
"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, still not looking at Ron, going so red now that I could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"
"And what did you say?" Ron repeated after me. Hermione put a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to-"
"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all three of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."
Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking.
The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash POTTER STINKS across the dungeon at Harry. Although, in time, the badge flickered, and it turned to MALFOY STINKS as it had done with the others before. I could see Lexie smirk, content the effects of her spell still hadn't faded.
A handful of Gryffindors had started laughing at him, but Snape had found a way to get them silent again.
"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of Witch Weekly. "A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course…"
Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"
The dungeon now rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth. To Harry's obvious fury, he began to read the article aloud.
"'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache… dear, dear. Potter, what's ailing you now? 'A boy like no other, perhaps…'"
I looked over at the table where Harry and Bella were sitting. I could see Harry's face burning. Snape was pausing at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape. Even Hermione was blushing scarlet now.
"'… Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins.
That's mean, I thought, but it occurred to me seconds later I had said this aloud. Everyone looked at me as if they were surprised I could speak at all.
"That's mean," I said, more loudly this time, looking at Snape.
I was seething.
"It's not fair," I continued, and a sudden rage took hold of me, and I felt vicious. "You of all people should know how unpleasant negative press attention can be-"
Snape had gone very white.
"What's not fair," he said, pressingly, to my surprise his gaze switched between me to Harry to Hermione, "is that due to Mr. Potter's tangled love life, no one is able to keep their minds on their potions. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."
He looked at me very curiously once more, but as usual, he didn't take points from Hufflepuffs, and he didn't reprimand me.
POV CLAIRE GIBBS:
We left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year.
I had decided to walk with my friends to Hogsmeade, and Cedric had told me to meet him outside of the Three Broomsticks, where I would part with my friends. The food Sirius had told Harry to bring was in his bag; he had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.
When I saw Cedric from a distance, I waved goodbye to my friends and all but sprinted towards him, letting myself into his arms.
"I like your perfume," I said.
It wasn't easy to tell what it smelled like, but it was a mix of cinnamon, winter, and the woods, and it made me think of the weekends I spent with my mom and dad in a cottage in Austria when I was younger. It smelled like home and happiness.
"Thanks," he said, "it was a gift from Janice. She gave it to me for my birthday."
He carefully placed his finger on my chin and lifted my face, so he could press a kiss upon my lips. It was a brief one, a careful one, like always. I bet he thought I wouldn't be strong enough to kiss him, really kiss him, that I would shatter if he put too much force into it. I convinced myself that I wouldn't, but convincing Cedric had proven difficult.
"I like your hair," he said, running his hand on top of it, but not through it, scared he'd mess up the braid Lexie had so carefully crafted.
His fingers stopped at the hair clip on the side of my head, which held the one strand of her on the left side of my side together with the braid and the rest of my hair. It was a butterfly, fashioned from several small deep purple shimmering stones.
"My dad gave it to me," I said. "When I had told him I would sign up for this school he wanted me to go to."
I cast my eyes downward, looking at our feet, his seemingly twice as big as mine.
"I got my Hogwarts letter a week later."
I could feel him stiffen, his hands leaving my hair alone and grasping my hands.
"You want to talk about it?"
"No," I said, determined.
There was some racket going on inside, I could hear his name being shouted.
"Don't be mad," he said, smiling apologetically, "I promised the guys I'd come to the Three Broomsticks first. Tori'll be there too, so you won't be the only girl-"
"Why would I be mad? Sure. It's fine."
I knew I didn't seem too enthusiastic.
"I like your friends," I added, but I wasn't sure if it helped.
Anyway, I led the way, and I recognized Aaron, Tori and Garrett at the table in the corner. Tori was giggling, because Aaron had his face buried in her neck, and Garrett was chatting with a redhead with a Gryffindor scarf I'd never met. Dean Thomas and Seamus were also there, and Cedric and I had to squeeze in between them to actually fit.
I saw now that the Gryffindor girl was Ginny, and I was glad there was another girl I knew at least. They greeted both of us cheerfully, and Ginny was intent on asking me how I had felt during the Second Task.
"Oh," I responded dryly. "I didn't feel that much actually. McGonagall explained the entire thing to us, of course, but before I could let it sink in we were put out, and the next thing I knew was surfacing from the freezing lake."
"The thing that Cedric would miss the most, huh," said Aaron, cocking his eyebrow teasingly. "It's not like we were surprised. You two are practically married."
Cedric and I both blushed, but he didn't seem embarrassed, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer.
"I bet you just can't wait to graduate and actually do it," Aaron went on. "Would be about time too, he's been in love with you since second year. Second year, can you imagine? Can you imagine what I've had to endure?"
Laughter filled the air.
"It felt like we knew you before we actually knew you," said Garrett, though not unkindly. "We'd already heard so much about you."
All this made me feel very loved, but also slightly uncomfortable. Ginny seemed to pick up on this.
"I suppose Hermione and Krum were the big surprise of the lot, though after the Yule Ball..."
"It surprised me that the Beauxbatons girl didn't have to dive up Roger Davies," said Aaron. "She seemed pretty hung up on him at the Yule Ball."
"According to Roger, everyone's hung up on him," remarked Tori. "Besides, it's not like the person you'd take on a date is the thing you'd miss the most. I mean, Potter saved his friend too, didn't he?"
"Weasley was practically his date," huffed Aaron. "He came there with Cho, but only danced with her once, and disappeared into the yard with Weasley all evening."
"Then again, somehow I doubt Cho minded," Garrett muttered, his eyes twinkling, looking at Cedric.
"Anyway, Harry left the best behind, too, if you ask me," said Dean.
Ginny looked at him furiously.
"Well, if I would be that close to Bella and Jones-" he tried to amend himself, but he sighed, "they're good-looking."
"You hate Lexie Jones," Garrett reminded him, though he seemed somewhat amused.
"I hate boys who only look at exterior-" started Ginny, but her rant was interrupted by Seamus saying, "Speaking of exterior, I'd like to know how on earth Neville managed to get a date with Janice Diggory."
"She likes him," replied Cedric. "She says he's nice. She doesn't care much about the rest."
"I'm glad she went with him," said Garrett. "She's nice, too."
"All of you Hufflepuffs are always so nice," sighed Dean.
"If you don't want nice, maybe you should consider Jones," teased Aaron. "Nice is the least you'll get if you mingle with Slytherins."
Dean's expression was one of horror.
"She may be pretty, but I doubt that's worth it. She's so arrogant and nasty. Even when I hear her speak-"
"She's my friend," I said.
"She's right, I've learned to not to judge even the Slytherins before you get to know them," Garrett smiled.
His gaze switched to Dean, and he grinned, "Oh, Dean? I think Aaron here was referring to something much less lasting and probably doesn't involve speaking."
"Garrett, my friend," gasped Aaron, theatrically, "was that a dirty joke?"
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